Find it funny how so many people are asking "where were the police?" When this all kicked off earlier. @PragueAddick remind us of the agreement the old bill came to with WHU about police being in the stadium? Don't they sit outside waiting to be radioed in, but were refusing to go in because their radios didn't work?
Went with my son today in the Burnley end. They went 1-0 down and so many just walked out. (Burnley were singing ‘is there a fire test today’).
A couple of fights amongst the WH broke out at various points, not just following the pitch invasions. Listening to their fans on the way home brings home what an unhappy place it is. It is going to turn very toxit if they do not win a game or two very soon.
The match day experience? Fun being with the Burnley supporters who seemed a very good natured bunch. They just laughed at the twats trying to goad them.
The stadium is seriously crap to watch football in. The goal we were behind seemed further away than the goal in front of the JS stand from my seat in the covered end.
Sound system was good.
Screen has no information other than the score. Seriously! No other information is available at any time on screen. No names of scorers, bookings, even the actual time. Just the score. Oh, and bloody great rolling adds. And I thought a lot of our screen is taken up by adds!
No away team info given out before the game which seems just rude.
Tha atmosphere? None. My son described it as being like being in a noisy pub. No idea if they sang a song or not during the whole game other than some thing a bubble breaking.
Find it funny how so many people are asking "where were the police?" When this all kicked off earlier. @PragueAddick remind us of the agreement the old bill came to with WHU about police being in the stadium? Don't they sit outside waiting to be radioed in, but were refusing to go in because their radios didn't work?
Must admit, I would have to look this up to remind myself. Basically nowadays police are not inside stadia any more after two clubs brought High court actions about the cost. So they have all switched to private stewarding. Police are only called in if requested by club security. That's true at The Valley now. Police are no longer deemed responsible for normal policing on land the club owns. Of course, West Ham don't own any of it. The stewards are contracted and controlled by Vinci, the stadium operator.
You are also right about the radio system though. @Addickted knows more about this, as I recall, it's his field.
The police though are deployed in numbers outside the stadium and in Westfield. And who pays those bills? We do.
Went with my son today in the Burnley end. They went 1-0 down and so many just walked out. (Burnley were singing ‘is there a fire test today’).
A couple of fights amongst the WH broke out at various points, not just following the pitch invasions. Listening to their fans on the way home brings home what an unhappy place it is. It is going to turn very toxit if they do not win a game or two very soon.
The match day experience? Fun being with the Burnley supporters who seemed a very good natured bunch. They just laughed at the twats trying to goad them.
The stadium is seriously crap to watch football in. The goal we were behind seemed further away than the goal in front of the JS stand from my seat in the covered end.
Sound system was good.
Screen has no information other than the score. Seriously! No other information is available at any time on screen. No names of scorers, bookings, even the actual time. Just the score. Oh, and bloody great rolling adds. And I thought a lot of our screen is taken up by adds!
No away team info given out before the game which seems just rude.
Tha atmosphere? None. My son described it as being like being in a noisy pub. No idea if they sang a song or not during the whole game other than some thing a bubble breaking.
Find it funny how so many people are asking "where were the police?" When this all kicked off earlier. @PragueAddick remind us of the agreement the old bill came to with WHU about police being in the stadium? Don't they sit outside waiting to be radioed in, but were refusing to go in because their radios didn't work?
The police though are deployed in numbers outside the stadium and in Westfield. And who pays those bills? We do.
Isn't that the same for every club though and, imo, totally fair.
The Airwave radio system is now fully operational at the London Stadium, so there should be no communication problems for the police if they are deployed within the footprint of the stadium.
If the Met decide there is potential for trouble at a games, they will and have deployed officers in the stadium - I actually think West Ham have to pay for this.
Policing within the 'footprint' of any Club is paid for by the home Club. For instance there are policing costs for Charlton for an agreed number of officers in attendance outside of The Valley - which will include Floyd Road up to the Station. The Met will increase those numbers if they consider there is likely to be a breach of the peace, but at their cost.
Find it funny how so many people are asking "where were the police?" When this all kicked off earlier. @PragueAddick remind us of the agreement the old bill came to with WHU about police being in the stadium? Don't they sit outside waiting to be radioed in, but were refusing to go in because their radios didn't work?
The police though are deployed in numbers outside the stadium and in Westfield. And who pays those bills? We do.
Isn't that the same for every club though and, imo, totally fair.
Re Police, correct. But WHU are now the only club in the league which dont pay either for police or stewards. Stewarding comes out of the £2.5 rent. E20 figures show taxpayer is netting less than half that amount, so we can assume stewarding mught be costing £1m or so. It is also believed police costs are higher than around any other London match because of concerns about Westfield. Actual figures difficult to get, as Met probably dont itemise them, now they have nowhere else to send the bill.
Surely the contract between West Ham and the taxpayers stadium isn't so watertight that they can't be chased for more money. or if the Stadium people are losing shedloads of money anyway, withdraw all stewarding and let West Ham sue. It might cost the Stadium people (us) money, but litigation will cost West Ham money too, and with any luck it can be dragged out for years with no stewards provided. Or provide one single steward and call it stewarding.
I would feel for their fans but it seems a bit choice supporting Charlton at the moment. I have always liked West Ham, and they should have stayed at Upton Park. This is all about money but the heart of the club has been removed. Gullivan will sell in a couple of years thanks to the deal their mates have given them and make a lot of money, but West Ham will have lost its soul. At least we still can dream of getting our Charlton back!
G&S planned this all along, how to get a stadium for free
I feel for their fans, this isn't going to end nicely
Surely after everything that’s been revealed of the deal, they can’t just now give it to them. There’d be uproar.
Well, I asked David Bellamy, Khan's Chief of Staff, about such a scenario. He looked me squarely in the eye and said, "absolutely no chance". I liked the bloke and believe him.
The political colour of London has changed. Gullivan and Brady are in the blue corner. The red corner is in charge now, and I am pretty sure it will be strengthened this year. Something like this might have happened with Johnson, but not only has he gone, but Khan seems quite keen on nailing Johnson's culpability for this, the Garden Bridge, and the buses.
We are not taking anything for granted, but we have an audience now for practical ideas to solve the financial mess another way. We are on it right now re the stewarding.
"Exclusive" my arse. It's in this thread, weeks back. And I have read through the contract loads of times and can find nothing there that causes West Ham to think the capacity can be increased to 66,000, the taxpayer pays the cost, and West Ham pocket the revenue. I think they have lost touch with reality.
Comments
Hope this plays, watch the steward in this, walks straight past the pitch invaders!
Let's hope they go down then they won't need any extra stewards or old bill
Good.
A couple of fights amongst the WH broke out at various points, not just following the pitch invasions. Listening to their fans on the way home brings home what an unhappy place it is. It is going to turn very toxit if they do not win a game or two very soon.
The match day experience? Fun being with the Burnley supporters who seemed a very good natured bunch. They just laughed at the twats trying to goad them.
The stadium is seriously crap to watch football in. The goal we were behind seemed further away than the goal in front of the JS stand from my seat in the covered end.
Sound system was good.
Screen has no information other than the score. Seriously! No other information is available at any time on screen. No names of scorers, bookings, even the actual time. Just the score. Oh, and bloody great rolling adds. And I thought a lot of our screen is taken up by adds!
No away team info given out before the game which seems just rude.
Tha atmosphere? None. My son described it as being like being in a noisy pub. No idea if they sang a song or not during the whole game other than some thing a bubble breaking.
You are also right about the radio system though. @Addickted knows more about this, as I recall, it's his field.
The police though are deployed in numbers outside the stadium and in Westfield. And who pays those bills? We do.
If the Met decide there is potential for trouble at a games, they will and have deployed officers in the stadium - I actually think West Ham have to pay for this.
Policing within the 'footprint' of any Club is paid for by the home Club. For instance there are policing costs for Charlton for an agreed number of officers in attendance outside of The Valley - which will include Floyd Road up to the Station. The Met will increase those numbers if they consider there is likely to be a breach of the peace, but at their cost.
He says, from memory!
Don't get me wrong. They've got big problems and may well get relegated.
If they do they might lose 20,000 supporters and be left with 25000/30000 attendees.
But terminal decline to me, means the club will go bust/die, or at the very least be wallowing in L1 /L2 for 10 years and I very much doubt that.
I hope I'm wrong
Or provide one single steward and call it stewarding.
I feel for their fans, this isn't going to end nicely
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/12/west-ham-accused-ostriches-fan-abuse-mp-karren-brady
The political colour of London has changed. Gullivan and Brady are in the blue corner. The red corner is in charge now, and I am pretty sure it will be strengthened this year. Something like this might have happened with Johnson, but not only has he gone, but Khan seems quite keen on nailing Johnson's culpability for this, the Garden Bridge, and the buses.
We are not taking anything for granted, but we have an audience now for practical ideas to solve the financial mess another way. We are on it right now re the stewarding.
Has their been any reaction from the Premier League or FA to the pitch invasions and crowd trouble?
The thing is, they should be employed by Vinci/LS185, the private stadium operator, not directly by the LLDC